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Top Asian News 12:21 a.m. GMT

Associated Press

In northeast India, the politics of citizenship flares anew

MAYONG, India (AP) — The rice farmer doesn't know how it happened. Abdul Mannan just knows a mistake was made somewhere. But what can you say when the authorities suddenly insist one of your five children isn't an Indian? What do you do when your wife and daughter-in-law are suddenly viewed as illegal immigrants? "We are genuine Indians. We are not foreigners," said Mannan, 50, adding his family has lived in India's northeastern Assam state since the 1930s. "I can't understand where the mistake is." Neither can nearly 4 million other people who insist they are Indian but who now must prove their nationality as the politics of citizenship — overlaid with questions of religion, ethnicity and illegal immigration — swirls in a state where such questions have a long and bloody past.

Thousands in China mosque standoff over demolition plan

BEIJING (AP) — Thousands of Muslims gathered at a mosque in northwestern China on Friday to protest its planned demolition in a rare, public pushback to the government's efforts to rewrite how religions are practiced in the country. A large crowd of Hui people, a Muslim ethnic minority, began congregating at the towering Grand Mosque in the town of Weizhou on Thursday, local Hui residents told The Associated Press by phone. "People are in a lot of pain," said Ma Sengming, a 72-year-old man who was at the protest from Thursday morning until Friday afternoon. "Many people were crying. We can't understand why this is happening." Ma said the group shouted "Protect faith in China!" and "Love the country, love the faith!" The protest comes as faith groups that were largely tolerated in the past have seen their freedoms shrink as the government seeks to "Sinicize" religions by making the faithful prioritize allegiance to the officially atheist ruling Communist Party.

After Indonesia quake, a new worry: deadly aftershocks

MATARAM, Indonesia (AP) — After a deadly earthquake devastated the Indonesian island of Lombok last weekend, Husni Handayani thought the worst was over. The powerful quake claimed hundreds of lives, wounded thousands more and displaced over 270,000 people. But it left her own home in the provincial capital, Mataram, still standing and nobody in her family was harmed. On Thursday, though, a strong aftershock shook the walls of Handayani's kitchen, prompting the pregnant 27-year-old to run outside in a panic. On a curb outside, she tripped and fell, glimpsing blood on her clothes before blacking out. "When I woke up ...

Brazen Taliban attack raises pressure on Afghan forces

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A brazen and bloody overnight assault Friday by the Taliban on a key provincial capital in central Afghanistan has increased pressure on U.S.-backed Afghan forces that are withering under relentless attacks, prompting President Ashraf Ghani to call an emergency meeting of his security officials. While government security forces in the city of Ghazni repulsed the multipronged attack with the help of U.S. air support, Taliban insurgents remained hunkered down on its outskirts, and some were still holed up in residential areas, according to Interior Ministry deputy spokesman, Nasrat Rahimi. At least 39 insurgents were killed, while 14 police died and 20 were wounded in the fighting, said provincial Police Chief Farid Ahmad Mashal.

Rebuilding mosques priority for devout on quake-hit Lombok

TANJUNG, Indonesia (AP) — On Indonesia's earthquake-devastated Lombok island, people are reeling as they mourn more than 300 dead and sleep in makeshift shelters, but foremost in the minds of some is rebuilding the collapsed mosques that were the heart of their communities. Dozens of villagers in Tanjung district prayed in a field Friday in front of their former mosque and made plans for a replacement. "We are very sad because our mosque we loved very much is now destroyed," said Sunarto, a worshipper, holding back tears. "Our imam, who is our leader, also died in the mosque." The magnitude 7.0 quake on Sunday killed at least 321 people and damaged or destroyed nearly 68,000 homes.

Indonesian president picks cleric as running mate in 2019

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The battle lines for Indonesia's 2019 presidential election were drawn Friday as the incumbent Joko "Jokowi" Widodo formally registered as a candidate after choosing a conservative Islamic cleric as his running mate. Jokowi, the first Indonesian president from outside the military and political elite, announced his vice-presidential candidate, Ma'ruf Amin, on Thursday after weeks of fevered speculation in local media. Jokowi's pick has become bigger news in Indonesia, the world's third-largest democracy, than an earthquake on the island of Lombok that killed more than 300 people. The decision disappointed liberals but analysts say it shores up Jokowi's position among conservative Muslims who demonstrated their political power last year with the ouster of Jakarta's minority Christian governor, a Jokowi ally, who was later imprisoned for blasphemy.

South Korea: North Korean coal entered its ports illegally

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea said a total of 35,000 tons of North Korean coal and pig iron worth $5.8 million illegally entered its ports last year, in possible violations of UN sanctions. Reporting on preliminary results from a 10-month investigation, the Korea Customs Service said Friday it is seeking prosecutions of three local companies and their executives for smuggling or forging documents to say North Korean mineral resources came from Russia. They imported North Korean coal or pig iron in seven separate cases between April and October last year to five South Korean ports, on the Jin Ao, Rich Vigor, Shining Rich and other vessels, the customs office said.

APNewsBreak: Outsourcing critic's brand sells foreign parts

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The off-road accessory was shipped in a box emblazoned with the logo of an auto parts brand owned by Mike Braun, a multimillionaire businessman who often rails against foreign outsourcing in his bid to become Indiana's next senator. The words "Made in China" were stamped across the packaging. Braun frequently criticizes his opponent, vulnerable red-state Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly, for once owning stock in a family business his brother runs that operates a factory in Mexico. However, the Republican nominee's own parts brand, Promaxx Automotive, sells products that were similarly manufactured abroad, according to a review by The Associated Press.

9-year-old chess prodigy wins fight to stay in Britain

LONDON (AP) — A 9-year-old India-born chess prodigy whose fight to stay in Britain drew international attention can remain in the country, the U.K. government said Friday. Shreyas Royal, who came to Britain with his family when he was 3 years old, has competed internationally and came fourth in the World Cadets competition in Brazil last year. But his family faced having to leave the U.K. when his father's work visa expires next month. The English Chess Federation and two lawmakers had appealed to Home Secretary Sajid Javid to let the family stay, saying Shreyas was the U.K.'s greatest chess talent in a generation and had lived in the country most of his life.

UN panel concerned at reported Chinese detention of Uighurs

BERLIN (AP) — A U.N. anti-discrimination committee raised concerns on Friday over China's treatment of the Uighur Muslim minority, citing reports of mass detentions as it considered Beijing's record over recent years. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination started reviewing China's report in Geneva on Friday. Chinese delegation leader Yu Jianhua highlighted economic progress and rising living standards among other things. Committee vice-chairwoman Gay McDougall said members are "deeply concerned" by "numerous and credible reports that we have received that, in the name of combating religious extremism and maintaining social stability, (China) has turned the Uighur autonomous region into something that resembles a massive internment camp that is shrouded in secrecy." Monitoring groups say the Uighurs have been targeted in a surveillance and security campaign that has sent thousands into detention and indoctrination centers.